


I Don't Need You (I'm Sorry I Do)

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [82]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Friends in the wrong crowd, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Teen Angst, cruel words, use of slurs
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-07
Updated: 2017-04-07
Packaged: 2018-10-16 02:31:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10561914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: One of Keith's friend is involved with the wrong crowd, can he and Shiro figure out what to do before it's too late?





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "I am in love with your single dad Shiro au. It makes me unbelievably happy whenever I see a new update. I don't know if you're taking prompts right now but if you are, what would Shiro and Keith do if one of Keith's friends started mixing with a bad crowd? Thank you for being an amazing writer and for giving us this wonderful series."

  “So, what were you and Pidge doing with those guys today?” Hunk asked, taking a bite of his sandwich when he noticed Pidge finally joining them. For the last couple of days Pidge had started making excuses of why they couldn’t hang out at lunch. Sometimes Pidge was feeling sick, or they had a project that was due soon, or Pidge’s robotics club had a meeting.

              Sure, they were sixteen and Hunk seventeen now and growing up. As they got older, they knew their lives were going to start dividing into different directions. Which meant there would be less and less time to hang out, and Hunk didn’t mind it at first. But Pidge was consistently _avoiding_ him and Keith lately, and that was bothering Hunk.

              Hunk didn’t know if Keith was too bothered by Pidge’s absence.

              “Oh um, I had to study for a test.” Pidge shrugged tiredly, scratching at the back of their head. Keith snorted into his lunch and ignored the glare sent to him from Pidge.

              “Oh, well hopefully you do good.” Hunk tried to smile, in hopes that the awkward tension would break. Pidge merely shove their hood over their head and slumped against the wall, across from Hunk and Keith. Thankfully Lance was out sick today, because Pidge didn’t feel like dealing with _him_ today. “Um, so, what’s with those other kids?”

              “What kids?” Pidge frowned.

              “The ones _you’re_ hanging out with.” Keith rolled his eyes while Pidge hissed. “Those stupid druggies that are your new friends. What are you even doing with them anyway?”

              “Shut up.” Pidge growled and Hunk shrunk back in his seat, but Keith didn’t back down. “You don’t know anything. They’re _my_ friends.”

              “Really? I didn’t know that you would stoop that low.” Keith snapped back and went back to eating his sandwich. He missed the icy glare look that Pidge gave him, but Hunk didn’t and he leaned away from Pidge in surprise. Hunk looked down at his sandwich and Pidge frowned in guilt for a moment, before schooling their face into one of anger.

              “You wouldn’t know anything. You never can get your head out of your ass.” Pidge slammed their hands on the table, finally startling both Hunk and Pidge. They grinned in satisfaction before walking away. “They’re better friends than you could ever be, at least they know how to be a normal person.” Pidge quickly walked away before they could even begin to feel the guilt for saying such a thing like that to Keith. Even Hunk was watching Pidge in horror at their words, and he swallowed thickly when Pidge left the cafeteria with a loud bang of the doors.

              Hunk glanced over at Keith to see him throwing away the rest of his uneaten lunch.

_Oh no…_

x.V.x

              “Hey, Pidgeon.” Pidge winced but looked up at the person who had spoken to them. Lotor, a notorious “bad-boy” of the school, was what some considered the “dark prince” of their ragged group of friends. Lotor was well known for his defiance of authority in schools. From skipping class to graffitiing the lockers and school buildings; to smoking in the back lots of the school and vandalizing any store he came across. Lotor was practically a legend and for a time, when Pidge was feeling low, he was in awe of the other teen. There seemed to be _nothing_ that could take down Lotor and Pidge wanted that.

              After their older brother ran away from home without a word, Pidge didn’t know what to feel. There was no note, no phone call or explanation about why he had left. Pidge’s parents couldn’t get a hold of him, Pidge or even Keith’s dad with all of his resources. No one had any idea of why Pidge’s brother would just up and leave in the middle of the night and everyone was in their own sort of anger or sadness of the situation. At first Pidge had been _furious._

              _How could their brother just leave him like that? How could he not even say goodbye?_ Pidge had been angry, wanting to smash and destroy anything in order to let out their anger. They tore up all the photos they had of their brother and tried to tear up their brother’s room, before their mama had started yelling at. Then Pidge tried to take their anger out at school

              They found themselves secluding away from Lance, Keith and Hunk and found themselves more and more alone. Always having an excuse for their absence and their friends took it without question.

              Then Lotor approached them.

              He had seen Pidge defiantly destroy an entire chemistry project when a teacher had mentioned their brother and he was impressed. He wasn’t quite expected that from someone as _little_ as Pidge. Before Pidge knew it, Lotor had grabbed them and they were a part of Lotor’s group. They were coming along when Lotor and the others decided to ditch and they had never felt so exhilarated before in their life. _Screw you Matt, look at me. I don’t need you._ Soon enough, Pidge was also coming to their back lot and destroying things with Lotor in the others and it made Pidge smile.

              They could finally release their anger and stop being a perfect _genius_ for once.

              Then Pidge just felt sad.

              All of their anger was gone and all that was left was sorrow that was so deep and painfully, that it left Pidge exhausted. Just coming to school was exhausted and Lotor was _always_ where Pidge was. And then when Pidge finally joined their _old_ friends, they found themselves getting angry again, and Pidge would wind up back in Lotor’s group. It was a vicious cycle that was wearing the teen out.

              “What?” Pidge rolled their eyes, flicking the butt of a cigarette away from them. They hadn’t smoked it too much, rather just let it burn.

              “I saw you at lunch with those group of losers.” Pidge sighed heavily while Lotor smirked. “I gotta say, I’m impressed. You finally told that _freak_ what he was. Finally.” _That was not what Pidge was expecting._

              “What?” Pidge blinked with a frown. Lotor laughed, voice scratchy from years of smoking and his red eyes narrowed on Pidge.

              “You told that Keith freak, to finally be normal.” Lotor laughed, causing the rest of his _goons_ to also laugh alongside him. Pidge swallowed thickly. They hadn’t thought that anyone had heard them. Admittedly, they had hoped that Keith hadn’t even heard them, but if Lotor heard then there was no doubt that Keith had heard too. “Like fuck, that guy is so weird. I mean, he never looks at anyone? He’s always stumbling around like a fucking _retard._ Mumbling all the time. Isn’t that what he is?” Lotor laughed again and Pidge’s insides twisted at Lotor’s words. _He’s talking about Keith._

              “No.” Pidge said through clenched teeth. “That’s horrible to say. Keith is _fine.”_ Pidge pushed back their guilt. They knew how Keith felt about his autism. Normally, Keith could care less but whenever he was told by someone that he wasn’t _normal,_ Pidge knew it always affected him.

              “Oh you don’t have to fake it.” Lotor snorted with a wave of his hand. “We all know what you said. He’s a freak. Just admit it. Anyway, you’re coming to our raid tonight, right?”

              Pidge swallowed thickly. “I dunno…”

              “Oh come on, _Katie.”_ Lotor dropped his cigarette under his boot before snuffing it out. “You said you were one of us now right?” He grinned darkly, before throwing his arm around Pidge’s shoulder. Pidge winced and looked at Lotor before sighing. Lotor knew perfectly that Pidge never went by Katie nor were they a girl.

              Eventually, Pidge nodded, even though they really didn’t want to. Lotor’s grin was almost predatory and he laughed. “Excellent. Make sure this little girl is ready to rock by eleven tonight!” Lotor announced and Pidge’s stomach dropped.

              _Guys, I’m sorry._

x.V.x

              “Is everything okay Keith?” Shiro asked when he noticed his son pushing around his dinner rather than eating, and it was Keith’s favorite dinner. If Keith wasn’t eating something was either wrong or today was one of Keith’s bad days.

              Keith merely shrugged and continued to push around his food.

              “Are you sure? Is everything okay at school? With Lance, or Hunk? Pidge?” Shiro asked and Keith remained silent. However, Shiro could see when Keith’s entire body stiffened at the mention of Pidge’s name and Shiro knew they had to do with Keith’s mood.

              “What’s going on with Pidge?” Shiro asked gently as he gave his full attention to Keith. Keith’s face momentarily morphed into a scowl before he shoved his plate away.

              “I don’t know. Why don’t you ask them yourself?” Keith grumbled under his breath and Shiro sighed. He was fully aware of what had been going on with the Holts. Matt’s sudden disappearance had left a hole in everyone’s hearts and confusion. Shiro couldn’t understand why Matt had left so suddenly and without any sort of a warning to his family. Not even Matt’s friends could explain what had happened. Shiro knew that the reality must have hit hard for Pidge and would have been a heavy weight to bear for anyone, especially someone as young as Pidge.

              “What’s going on, Keith?” Shiro shifted so that he was complete facing Keith. Keith merely grumbled and tried to avoid any sort of eye contact with his dad, but eventually even he could not get out of this. Finally, Keith sighed and looked at his dad.

              “We haven’t actually seen much of Pidge.” Keith admitted and Shiro blinked but refrained from interrupting his son. “I mean, they’ve been at school, but we haven’t actually seen them. They’ve been making excuses of having robot club or studying for a test or being busy.”

              “Okay.” Shiro nodded when Keith hesitated. “I’m guessing you didn’t believe any of it.”

              “Maybe at first?” Keith rubbed his arms. “But eventually their excuses didn’t add up and then…Lance saw Pidge hanging out with some _sketchy_ kids.” Keith shrugged, continuing to rub and Shiro sighed tiredly. He should have seen this coming. A stressed young teen who had just found out their brother is missing?

              “What kind of kids?” Shiro hated to ask.

              “Like _Lotor.”_ Keith mumbled and glared at the table cloth and Shiro swallowed thickly.

              “You mean _Zarkon’s_ kid? The one who’s been vandalizing buildings, schools and homes?!” Shiro almost didn’t want to believe Keith but why on Earth would his son ever lie? Though, that didn’t make Shiro feel any better about the situation. He and many other parents were well aware of Lotor’s destructive behavior within their small neighborhood. The kid was a punk and needed to be taught a lesson but Shiro never bothered to get involved. As long as nothing happened to Keith, it wasn’t really any of Shiro’s business. _But now Pidge was involved._

“Yeah.” Keith whispered.

              “And…have you talked to Pidge?” Shiro asked and bit his tongue when Keith nodded miserably. _Of course he did. Why else would he look so sad?_ “And I’m assuming by your mood, Pidge didn’t really listen to you.”

              “No. They said they like hanging out with _them.”_ Keith spat bitterly. “But they’re miserable! So how am I supposed to talk to them about how miserable they are if they are a stubborn butthead?” Keith crossed his arms over his chest miserably and Shiro chuckled to himself.

              “Remind you of anyone?” Shiro asked playfully and Keith rolled his eyes.

              “Dad, this is serious.”

              “I’m always serious. Look, this is my serious face.”

              “Dad!”

              “Keith!”

              _Knock._

              Keith and Shiro both shared a look at the sudden knock on the door. It was fairly late in the evening and neither of them were expecting any guests at all this evening. Shiro’s look instantly darkened as his protective nature leapt into action. Keith nodded and Shiro went to the door while Keith hung back.

              However, of all the people that Shiro was imaging just outside of the door, none of them were Pidge Holt. Standing in the rain, soaked to the bone with a hood over their head and face as pale as a white sheet.

              “Pidge?” At this, Keith was instantly by Shiro’s side with wide eyes upon seeing his friend in the cold.

              “There’s not a lot of time. Lotor picked your house!” Pidge suddenly yelled, eyes darting around as if looking for something. Shiro’s eyes narrowed and Keith swallowed, looking out into the dark streets. He knew what Pidge meant and that was never good. “Lotor targeted your house! He’s coming here! I tried to stop him but he won’t listen and I had to warn you.”

              “Lotor? Whoa, slow down. Pidge calm down and explain.” Shiro tried to soothe the young teen quietly.

              “There’s no time! He’s going to wreck your house!” Pidge finally shrieked and Shiro’s entire face became an uneasy look of anger. One that made both Pidge and Keith step back. It was the look of a Commander. A soldier. A protector.

              “Not on my watch.” Shiro growled. Then he pulled Pidge inside and slammed the door shut.

x.V.x

              “You think, a punk like you can get away with this? Just because your father is _Zarkon?!”_

              Pidge and Keith both shared a look before snickering at Shiro’s booming yell from across the house. However, quickly they both looked away and awkwardly waited. Shiro had been well prepared, and had scared Lotor and his goonies, _shitless,_ when he stepped out of his house with a gun in hand. Un prepared, Lotor had tried to flee only to be caught by Shiro himself and dragged into the house without breaking a sweat. While Shiro was waiting for the police, he didn’t hesitate to reprimand and take the time to yell at the usually snarky teen.

              “Oh boy, if you’re quaking in your boots now, just wait until you’re in jail for _trespassing.”_

              Keith felt his lips twitch in a smile. Pidge glanced over before swallowing thickly. They couldn’t bring themselves to look at Keith; not without an endless suffering of guilt for how they had treated their _friend._ Their real friends. Not Lotor.

              “Pidge.” Surprisingly it was Keith who broke the silence and Pidge stared at the ground. “Pidge, could you…um, would you sit with us from now on? Instead of Lotor? He’s an ass and we miss you. I miss you.”

              Pidge found their throats closing and their vision was becoming blurrier and blurrier from the tears in their eyes. _How could he be so forgiving and so kind after all I’ve said to him? How could he be this kind?_

              “Keith…I – I’ve been awful to you? Why would you…” Pidge swallowed and their eyes burned.

              “Well, I’m not the nicest person either.” Keith shrugged and Pidge sniffled pathetically. “I know I’ve probably said a lot of mean things on accident before so it’s alright. Besides your our friend. My friend and I miss you.” Keith admitted quietly kicking at the ground and Pidge finally looked over at him. _Why?_ However, Pidge found that they could hardly speak and instead did they last thing that they or Keith had ever expected. They threw their arms around Keith and buried their face in Keith’s shirt.

              Startled, Keith blinked and was frozen for a few minutes before he hesitantly began to hug Pidge back. He awkwardly rubbed Pidge’s back when they began to sniffle happily and smiled. _Pidge was back and we’re going to make sure they never leave again._

              Keith would always be there for Pidge.

              And Pidge would always be there for Keith.

              “That’s Takashi Shirogane, _sir,_ to you!”


End file.
